Sophia
Sophia is a character first encountered in Issue 2 of Image Comics' The Walking Dead and is one of the few remaining survivors of the original Atlanta band. Sophia is a young blonde girl who survived with her mother, Carol; she is now the only surviving member of her family. Later after her mother's death, she was adopted by Glenn and Maggie. Pre-Apocalypse Location Unknown Very little is known about Sophia's life before or as the outbreak began, she presumably lived a normal life; she was frequently doted upon by her mother. As the outbreak occurred, she lost her father to suicide and was in the process of being driven to her aunt's house in Atlanta. Post-Apocalypse Days Gone Bye Sophia and her mother Carol could not make it into the city, so they stayed at Dale's camp that he, Andrea, and Amy had set up. Also at the camp was a man named Glenn, and a family of four with twin sons that were Sophia's age. Sophia spent most of her time at the camp playing with the twin boys, Ben and Billy, until a woman named Lori Grimes showed up at camp with her son, and a family friend. Sophia made friends with Carl, and survived the zombie attack that took Amy's life. Miles Behind Us Sophia settles into Hershel's farm, when he lets the group stay for a while. Sophia is relieved that Carl survived the attack on the Atlanta camp, and pecks him on the cheek. Sophia is forced to leave the farm with the group after Hershel kicks them out. Safety Behind Bars The group find a prison and decide to seek refuge in it. During the time of clearing out the prison, Sophia, Carl, Ben, and Billy are babysat by Tyreese's daughter and her boyfriend Chris. Chris starts complaining and swearing about babysitting and is told by Carl he shouldn't curse because he is still not an adult, but Carl only receives a rude answer. Carl and Sophia go back to playing cards, and Sophia askes Carl if he would be her boyfriend, to which he says no and that girls are gross. The Heart's Desire Sophia is horrified by witnessing Carol attempt to kill herself by slitting her wrists. The group try their best to look after Sophia and comfort her until Carol heals, which she eventually does. The Best Defense Carol states to Lori that the thing that has her worried most during her suicide attempt recovery is that Sophia acts as if nothing ever happened. Later on, Lori and Carol get in a heated argument where Lori asks Carol "if she even cares for Sophia anymore?", which offends Carol. After this incident, Carl sees Sophia sitting alone in her cell. Carl asks Lori if he can play with her, but Lori says no. This Sorrowful Life Sophia starts to live a normal life at the prison. After Rick's return from Woodbury, Sophia asks Carl if Rick's hand could grow back. Carl responds that it's impossible. They have a little fight, but Carl apologizes to her. The Calm Before During Lori's childbirth, Carl is being babysitted by Carol, which results in him spending lots of time with Sophia. Later on, Carol asks Lori if she would take care of Sophia if she were to die. Lori tells her to not think like that, but says that she would raise her like her own. After Carol's unexpected suicide, Carl tries to comfort a shocked Sophia, who is too stunned to speak or move. Lori and Rick tell Carl that Sophia doesn't want to play right now, and Carl says that he understands, and tells Sophia that he still likes her. Sometime later Carl wants to play with Sophia, but again, Lori says that she probably doesn't want to. Carl says its okay, and kisses her on the cheek. Made To Suffer When Woodbury invades the prison and begins to attack, Dale says that he is going to save someone's life. He says that he is taking Sophia, whether Lori agrees or not. Dale collects Sophia and takes her away in the RV back to Hershel's farm, along with Ben, Billy, Glenn, Maggie, and Andrea. Here We Remain After having come across Maggie and Glenn, Rick, Carl, and Michonne all meet up with the other survivors who left the prison prior to the Woodbury assault. Carl sees Sophia and tells her that he knows how she feels about not having a mother, since he now has lost his. Sophia says that her mom isn't dead, and is crying in the next room. Sophia had apparently repressed all memories of Carol as her mother, and now believed Maggie to be her actual biological mother. She still, however, remembers Carl and the other members of the group she had met before. What We Become Maggie attemps to commit suicide after the events of the prison, which shocks Sophia, much like it did earlier with Carol. Andrea tells Dale that she feels sorry for Sophia as she treats Maggie as her actual mother, rather than Carol. Maggie survives her suicide attempt, and says she wants to spend more time with Glenn and Sophia, knowing that this is all they get. Fear The Hunters Maggie shows signs that she treats Sophia like her own, by protecting her when Gabriel joins the group, and wanting to take her away to an island with no zombies. Sophia and Maggie discover a legless Dale and rush to get help. Sophia is kept away from a dying Dale, as it would be too much of a sight for her to handle. Life Among Them Along with Carl, Sophia is one of the two remaining children of the group to reach the Alexandria Safe-Zone. She appears to adapt well, as she eagerly participated in a Halloween event for the kids and enjoyed some candy for the first time. She has even taken to calling Glenn her father, though its unknown if she's repressed her memories of her true father or she truly is bonding with him. Too Far Gone Sophia is usually seen with Maggie and Glenn, living a normal life in the safe-zone. When the DC Scavengers attack, Sophia stays holed up in their house. No Way Out When a horde of zombies break into the Safe Zone, Maggie and Sophia take shelter in Rick's house with Rick, Carl, Michonne, Denise, and Morgan. When Rick hatches a plan to leave and make an escape, Sophia and Maggie stay behind in his house. They do this mainly because both Maggie and Sophia are slow runners and would never make it. Maggie, wanting to protect Sophia, chooses to stay behind. We Find Ourselves After Carl woke up from his coma, she is seen with him, reading and asked him about his eye. He tells her that it doesn't hurt as much now. She says that it's unfair that nothing bad happens to her, Carl then snaps at her that both her mom and dad are dead and Glenn and Maggie are just two people who took her in; he then apologies for what he had said. She says it's okay and tells him that she knows Glenn and Maggie aren't her real mother and father and that she is just pretending. A Larger World Sophia is seen running up to Glenn and Maggie when they return, telling them that she is just pretending that they are her mother and father and that she isn't scared anymore about the fact that her real mom and dad are dead. Something To Fear Sophia is among those in Rick's group when they travel to the Hilltop Colony. On the way there, Negan intrudes and picks someone to kill. He goes over Sophia and Maggie, to Glenn. He brutally kills Glenn with his baseball bat, Lucille. After he leaves, Maggie begins swinging at Rick and hits him. Carl aims his gun at Maggie to get her to stop and Sophia bites Carl on the arm. She gets pulled off by Heath and the others pack up to leave. Sophia walks away from the others as they prepare Glenn's body and Carl walks up to talk to her. She wonders why everyone in her family dies and wonders if it's her fault. Carl reassures Sophia that it isn't because of her; "it's just the way it is." Maggie tells Rick that she still wants to go live at the Hilltop with Sophia and that Glenn should be buried there. Sophia is later seen saying a tearful goodbye to Carl as he and the others journey from the Hilltop back to the Safe-Zone. March To War At first, Sophia claims to not like living at the Hilltop and tells Maggie that she wants to go back to Alexandria. Maggie tells her that the Hilltop is their home now and she'll soon make new friends here. Eventually, Sophia does so as she is later seen playing with Brianna's Son and gradually views Hilltop to be her home. All Out War - Part One Sophia is seen safe and alive at the Hilltop in the midst of the war, being protected by Maggie. All Out War - Part Two When Rick brings the members of Alexandria to the Hilltop, she goes over to see Carl. She asks if he remembers her, and Carl bitterly says yes, adding that he does not choose to forget people, reminding of how she blocked Carol out of her mind. Taken back by his demeanor, Sophia says that he's always too mean around her and leaves, going to eat with her new friends, finishing off saying she doesn't want to talk to him anymore. During the final battle, she stays inside the house for safety along with Maggie and the others. She is later seen outside in the aftermath. A New Beginning Sophia survived the events of previous war, and two years later, now at the age of 12, she continues living in Hilltop Colony, along with Maggie and her new step-brother Hershel Greene. Apparently, she has acquired fist-fighting skills, as she beats two bullies up after they went after her friend. Also, Sophia's forgiven Carl for being unfriendly to her. Sophia also seemed happy when Carl informs her that he is going to move to Hilltop. Volume 23 Sophia visits Carl after he's finished working with Earl, and they go to dinner together. While eating, they're attacked by two boys in retaliation for Sophia's interference in their bullying of Brian. They grab Sophia, but Carl attacks them with a shovel, presumably killing them. Sophia is walking alongside an injured Carl when Maggie sees them. Sophia passes out due to her condition and is taken to the hospital. Alex examines her and says she is going to be just fine, but she might have a concussion. Relationships Carol Carol was her previous and biological mother whom Sophia loved very much. After she committed suicide, like her father, Ed, Sophia didn't talk for months. Shortly after leaving the prison, Sophia pretended that Maggie was her biological mother, in order to repress all her memories of Carol. Later, she admits to Carl, and then Maggie and Glenn that she has been pretending that they were her biological parents. She admits that she does remember Carol and her father as her biological parents. Maggie Greene Maggie unofficially adopted Sophia (or she sees Maggie as her mother) after they and everyone else escaped from the Prison. They develop a close bond as the series continues. Sophia knows that Maggie is not her biological mother, but likes to pretend she is. In Issue 101, Sophia bites Carl's arm when he raises his gun at Maggie for punching Rick. She later apologized for biting Carl, and she told him she did it because she believed that Carl was going to shoot Maggie. Glenn Since Glenn is married to Maggie, Sophia sees Glenn as her father. Their relationship wasn't necessarily as strong as Sophia and Maggie's, but, even so, Sophia saw him as a father, and Glenn seemed to care for her. When Negan beat Glenn to death with his baseball bat, Sophia was absolutely devastated and clung to Maggie, crying. Carl Grimes Being his childhood "girlfriend", Carl and Sophia seem to get along pretty well. They are often seen kissing and holding hands, and pretty much together having fun. Carl usually protected her from zombies. When she sees Carl again for the first time in several months, he accidentally insults her, causing her to realize that her other friends are much nicer to her and she leaves him. Years after the event, they have since mended their relationship and seem to be good friends again. Sophia seems specially happy when she learns that he'll be moving to Hilltop. Carl went into great lengths to protect her, beating two boys almost to death just to defend her, and is visibly worried about her state after being attacked. He vehemently defends what he did in order to protect her. Brian Sophia and Brian are show to be good friends, with she even going as far as beating two boys who were bullying him. Appearances Trivia *Sophia, along with Andrea, are the two longest living female survivors in the series. Both of them are also part of the four known surviving members of the original Atlanta group. *It is said in the script book that Sophia is 6 years old. However, in #109, Maggie states her to be ten years old. With that and the fact that it's been over four years since the dead began to reanimate, Sophia is roughly 12 years old at this point. *''The Survivors' Guide'' incorrectly states Sophia as Jim's daughter.